We are national thought leaders in economic development, working with the nation’s most innovative communities. Here are our latest insights:

How community assessments help foundations translate complex information into collaborative action By Noelle Salerno, Senior Consultant and John Rees, Research Director One of the most frequent questions we receive from our clients is, “How do we measure success?”...

By Tony DeLisi, Vice President Many economic development organizations have seen their work come under increased scrutiny in recent years, which is highlighting a critical need for improved communications with local stakeholders. Questioning of economic development...

Why Today's Economy is Turning Economic Developers into Skills Promoters By Chris Engle, Principal Across the country, economic developers grapple every day with the challenge of convincing people to stay in their community, relocate, or develop themselves into the...

By Jennifer Vernon and Marian Kansas The results from our 2019 Economic Development Index are in and once again, workforce availability is the leading contributor to sleepless nights among economic developers. In fact, over the past year, 93% of the 110 ED Index...

By Chris Engle, Principal The technology industry has become one of the most dominant drivers of the U.S. economy today, as it permeates more aspects of consumer life and business strategy. Urgency now exists for companies to identify the best technology workforce to...

By Amy Holloway, President, and Marian Kansas, Consultant This has been a year full of memory-making moments. From helping new clients kick off their first economic development strategies to witnessing long-term clients experience record-breaking success, it’s almost...

By Ronnie L. Bryant, Principal of Ronnie L. Bryant, LLC When it comes to future forward thinking and leadership for economic development organizations, I believe we have a wealth of opportunities to evolve and thrive. Now is the time to bring open minds, fresh...

By: Jennifer Vernon and Amy Holloway The competitive landscape of economic development is changing and so must the role of economic developers. With our nation’s record-low unemployment rates, there is an assumption that prosperity is widespread. Instead, the current...

By Noelle Salerno, Senior Consultant This month’s IEDC Annual Conference was a great opportunity to connect with economic developers and get a pulse on the trends impacting the field today. Attendees were buzzing about topics that are disrupting their communities and...

By Tony DeLisi, Vice President The future comes more quickly every day. Technologists often describe this phenomenon as an exponential growth curve – with each technological advancement building on the previous advancement and occurring at an ever-increasing...

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